OPP officer pleads guilty in Highway 69 crash

PARRY SOUND - A West Parry Sound OPP officer involved in a collision on Highway 69 has pleaded guilty to an amended charge.
On the morning of August 19, Const. Lorie Lalonde, who was on duty and in a fully marked OPP cruiser, stopped on the shoulder of the northbound lane of highway 69. She then attempted a u-turn and collided with a southbound 2011 Ford Mustang. The OPP vehicle did not have its emergency lights activated at the time of the collision.
As a result, the 36-year-old male driver of the Mustang was transported to the West Parry Sound Health Centre with non-life-threatening injuries. Lalonde was not injured.
On November 6, in Provincial Offences Court, Lalonde pleaded guilty, through an agent, to the charge of Interfere with Traffic, 170 (12) of the Highway Traffic Act. The charge is described in the act as, “no person shall park or stand a vehicle on a highway in such a manner as to interfere with the movement of traffic or the clearing of snow from the highway.”
The charge carries no demerit points and a maximum fine of $100. Lalonde was fined $50 plus cost and surcharge as a result of the conviction. She was given 30 days to pay.
Prior to being amended, the charge against Lalonde was “Start from Stop Not Safely.”